Unpredictable End
by BJoker
Summary: Naruto would never give up. So when Madara threatens to use a jutsu that will kill his younger self and change their future, Naruto does his best to stop him, with unexpected consequences. Next thing Naruto knows he is a newborn again, realizing what is happening and the chance he has, he vows to change things for the better. Starting with keeping his parents alive.
1. Chapter 1 - All begins with the end

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**_

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**Chapter 01 **

"It can't be"

Naruto grinned from his kneeling position, he was exhausted that's true but he had finally managed to nail that damn Madara with a mix between the Rasenshuriken and the Bijudama. The man was staring with wide eyes at what used to be his heart. Naruto had an awesome name for the technique too but Kurama had shot him down, moody fox.

"Damn you Naruto Uzumaki, Obito should have killed you from the very start!" Blue eyes focused again on the raging founder of Konoha, the man had a hole in his chest but somehow he still managed to talk, Naruto knew that it was over though; the mad man couldn't hurt anyone else anymore. He met the Rinnegan head on with his own blue eyes, the sage mode long gone. A sudden pain in his chest made Naruto double over and start coughing, it hurt.

"Naruto!" Voices screamed his name from the distance, Naruto knew they were familiar but he couldn't place them, everything had gone kind of fuzzy all of a sudden, he couldn't see clearly either. Huh? Another wave of sharp pain threw him face down to the ground; he gripped what was left of his shirt trying to alleviate the pain to no avail.

"Sakura help me turn him over!" That voice, Granny Tsunade? She sounded worried, panicked even, that couldn't be good. Did he go and do something stupid again? Gentle hands were suddenly turning him on his back, Naruto groaned in protest as dazed eyes tried to focus on the starts but he just couldn't, he was so tired.

"Oi Naruto! Don't you dare close your eyes! Hang on!" Blue eyes turned slowly to the new voice. Naruto was sure that one belonged to Sakura. It was obvious that he did something dumb because he made her cry again "Naruto are you listening to me? Please…don't go…I will even go on a date with you after this is all over so please don't die" That sounded nice, but he didn't have any strength anymore "Please, I am begging you"

He vaguely registered the two pair of hands that were trying to heal him, it was futile. Naruto frowned, he never was so pessimist, but he somehow knew it was true and he was pretty sure Sakura and Tsunade baa-chan knew it too. A spike of chakra made him and his companion tense "No" he mumbled, somehow gaining the strength necessary to sit up, ignoring the people who begged him to stop moving. His eyes widened when he spotted Madara still on his feet.

"How did he survive the last hit from Naruto-kun?" A trembling voice said from behind him. Hinata, he realized a moment later, she was the only reason why he didn't fall back again, she was supporting him as always, the thought brought a small smile to his face. It was wiped away immediately when he felt another surge of chakra. Madara started laughing, the sound made a chill travel down his spine.

"Naruto, I have to admit you surpassed all of my expectations" Madara commented nonchalantly, why wasn't the Uchiha falling down dead yet? The Sharingan user took a step in his direction and suddenly he was watching the back of his comrades as they stepped in front of him "Oh? What is this, you still have strength to protect the last Jinchuuriki?" Madara seemed amused, but maybe from his point of view it was, Naruto knew just as well as Madara that no one had enough chakra to attack.

"You can't protect him from this, nothing can. I never thought I would need to use my last trump card but as I said, Naruto is special like that" Said blond stood up with the help of his friends, he could feel how Shikamaru went to stand beside him and Naruto gratefully leaned on him. Smiling slightly at the "troublesome" that escaped the Nara's lips. With clumsy steps he went to the front.

"I know you are as dead as I am Naruto Uzumaki" Madara had taken on a more serious expression, ignoring completely the gasps from their audience at the statement. Naruto suppressed a flinch "I won't survive this injury, but neither will you survive the use of the Kyuubi's chackra" Naruto really didn't want the others knowing that, the blond knew of the risks when he used the full power of the bijuu and didn't want his friends to feel bad about it.

"You probably feel victorious, you finally defeated me…" Something was wrong, Naruto knew it, hell everyone knew, all of the ninjas still alive and conscious could feel the chakra Madara was gathering. How could it be that he still had strengh? "But…" Madara said with poorly hidden glee "The Rinnegan has one more jutsu, one that not even the Sage of the Six Paths used. Shows to you how much of a fool he was"

"Get on with it already" Naruto said with a grin, Shikamaru snorted from his side "Only you Naruto"

"Even if it pains me, the dobe is right" Sasuke said, coming from his other side to support him, if it wasn't from their help Naruto knew he would have fallen to his knees already. He was dying, but knowing he fulfilled his promise to Sakura and to himself made him feel lighter. Team 7 was finally together again. Naruto closed his eyes, he didn't know what Madara was planning now but he wouldn't allow it to work.

Had Sasuke been a lesser man he would have stepped back at the glare Madara Uchiha was aiming at him, as it was he only glared back with all the hate from his being "Do not talk to me, you are such a disappointment" Madara said with a superior smirk before glancing at his audience, all of what was left of the shinobi alliance was staring at him. It would feel so nice when he destroyed their hope "You see, there is this last jutsu. Or to be more specific a Time Jutsu…"

Murmur started and people blanched and even fell to their knees when what Madara was saying started to sink in "A time jutsu…you can't be serious!" A shinobi of the Sand screamed, getting as an answer a mad laugh from Madara.

"This jutsu will let me manipulate one action of the past as I see fit" the Uchiha said, hands starting to form hand seals already, but no one was in any condition to stop him anymore, it didn't mean they didn't try but Madara did quick work of those "And guess what that will be…"

"Stop kidding around you fucking Uchiha!" Kiba screamed in a rage, using the last of his strength to lunge at Madara. The older man smirked and dodged the first punch easily, not stopping his hand seals for a second "Kiba-kun!"

Naruto heard a thump and he knew that his friend must be dead, but he couldn't hestitate now. He needed just a little more time "Pathetic, you Naruto were the only real thread, and this jutsu shall take care of that"

"Yes, it will be the death of one Uzumaki Naruto! You won't be a thorn in my side anymore; you shall die as soon as you are born!" With that said Madara finished the last of his hand seal, it was something none of the ninja close enough to observe it had ever seen. Naruto's eyes choose that moment to snap open, but they weren't blue anymore, but slit red eyes with a horizontal line that showed he was using the last of Kurama's chakra and natural energy at the same time. There was no way that Naruto was letting that sick bastard take away their victory.

_"Jikan seigyo no Jutsu!" "Rasenshuriken!"_

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**So I started another story without finishing the other one but I just needed to write it down.**

**Time travel is all over the place but I love those stories! So I wanted to try my hand writing my own. Hope you liked it! R&R? :)**


	2. Chapter 2 - Bearings

**Sandaime = Third**

**Yondaime = Fourth**

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**Chapter 02 Bearings**

Everything hurt, so much that Naruto couldn't get a hold of his surroundings. He felt as if his chakra coils were about to explode and implode at the same time. Was this how Kakuzu, that Akatsuki member with the multiple hearts, felt when he got the first version of the Rasenshuriken in the face?

An echo of pain came from deep within and it disturbed Naruto. Something serious must have happened if even Kurama was feeling the consequences, if it wasn't because of that, Naruto would have thought he got drunk and asked Sakura out again and ended up like Ero-sennin, with all his bones broken by that insane strength. It was a close thing though.

The pain increased and Naruto could do nothing to stop it. As if he was underwater, he heard the muffled cries of a baby, but the pain didn't let him concentrate on much except his own erratic beating heart.

_Familiar demonic chakra_

It felt like forever but the pain started to recede to a more reasonable level at some point, and with that his head cleared. Naruto finally perceived the sound of voices around him but before he could sense anything else, they turned into dying screams. He wanted desperately to help but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't move, he was a prisoner of his own body. Naruto couldn't even open his eyes, he felt so helpless.

A familiar presence made his skin crawl. And before he knew it he was surrounded by that malicious intent.

_Madara…no…. Obito?._

"Naruto!" Everything felt so painfully familiar, like this had happened before. The cold steel of a kunai on his small neck made him cry out; he was victim to his more basic instincts. What was going on? And just like that he knew that he was going to die.

_Kurama, where are you? What's happening?_

And then he felt safe, like he never felt before in his whole life, the closest thing was when he was hugged by Ero-sennin. A warm protective embrace as if nothing could harm him. He **needed** to know what was happening. He finally managed to open his eyes.

"Taking your first look at the world already Naruto?" That voice was familiar, it was his Dad. Naruto couldn't really see him, his eyes barely saw a blur in front of him, consisting on mostly yellow, but he recognized the voice and the feel of that presence. "A bad man has taken your mom, but I will take her back so don't cry, okay?" He didn't see the grin but he heard it and a giggle escaped him.

_Everything was so confusing_

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Everything had gone to plan except one detail, and Tobi felt uneasy. The Yondaime Hokage had managed to rescue the Jinchuuriki but not before he extracted the Kyuubi, he didn't even bother on fighting him for the redhead; he preferred to see the nine tails wreck Konoha. The woman was as good as dead anyway, all because she wanted a son. And that's what has been bothering him, ever since he laid eyes on the infant; he had this strange urge to kill him. If it wasn't for the boy's father, the baby would have died the moment he had him in his hold. And it would have been so easy, just the tip of his Kunai would have been enough, and ruin all his plans too, he needed that child as a hostage, a distraction. It worked out in the end but it was a close call.

Even now as he observed the Yondaime transport the Kyuubi from Konoha to a more remote location, with his own son and wife in tow, he wanted to kill the child. Why did he felt like that? As if he didn't have control of his own body.

The startled gasp of the young Hokage had him paying attention again to the situation at hand. And he barely suppressed his own surprised reaction. He stared at the newborn in astonishment. Somehow the seal had transferred to the child without the need of outside interference, was it because his mother was a Jinchuuruki?.

"W-why?" Obito turned to stare at Kushina Uzumaki. She was clutching her stomach, dragging herself as she could to reach her family. The masked man knew that this would get interesting.

"M-minato" she stuttered, coughing up blood "What's going on! Why did you bring Naruto along? You only need me to seal the Kyuubi dattebane!"

"Kushina!" The fourth hokage exclaimed, immediately going to her weakened wife. The roar of the Kyuubi hid well Tobi's laugh, but it was cut abruptly when he saw chains take hold of the bijuu. With a smirk he stepped down from the tree he had been observing from, clapping at their bravery. Two young shinobi against the majestic nine tails "The Uzumaki really are amazing" He commented lightly, easily ignoring the death glared the young couple threw at him "Now why don't we-"

If it wasn't because of his space-time ability he would be dead already, the Yondaime was that fast with his kunai, and not only that, from there he could see the plotting behind those sharp blue eyes, already putting everything together to arrive to a conclusion and bring him down "Kushina, I will take care of this. Please stay with Naruto, this man wants something from him"

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_Brat_

What was that? He was comfortable in the embrace of warm, beautiful chakra. With a yawn he opened his eyes but his vision was obstructed by long red hair. Narutp was startled, first his father and now his mother.

A powerful surge of demonic chakra shook him out of his musings. Blue eyes focused on the source of this never-ending hate. There, quite a distance from him, stood an enraged Kyuubi, fighting against some chains of sort. It didn't make sense, if he concentrated enough he could still feel the Kyuubi inside him.

"Don't worry Naruto, dad and mom will take of the scary monster" She said with a frail smile, a stream of blood going down her chin. With childish hands he tried to reach her, to wipe those tears away.

_I don't know what is happening, but I wont let them die again. I __**will**__ save them._

Naruto would never go back on his word. That was his Ninja way. With that said, Naruto closed his eyes to concentrate, the seal had gone back with him, to whatever this was and Naruto was going to use that to his advantage.

_I can't believe I'm helping you incarcerate myself again. But I won't be a pawn to that thrice damned Uchiha. Any version of me._

Kurama's chakra joined his own and between the two of them they activated the seal. Just in time as Kushina's chains started to dissolve.

_Thanks Kurama._

_I'm not doing this for you brat._

Slowly but surely they started to seal the Kyuubi in in Naruto´s seal again. But as long as Obito maintained the summoning contract, they couldn't seal him completely. Naruto was starting to panic, his meager reserves were about to end when suddenly the contract broke and most of the Kyuubi entered the seal. Naruto closed it as soon as he could before losing consciousness, chuckling lightly at Kurama's last comment.

_That Yondaime isn't that useless after all_.

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Minato's breathing was labored. It wasn't easy to transport such a mass of energy and then the source, and after all that still fight against the summoner. But he had done it. He had hit the masked man with the rasengan and marked him, making it easy to later severe the summoning contract. He fell to his knees, gripping the kunai that was buried deep in his left arm and stared with a dumbfounded look at the space that occupied the Kyuubi. In its place only stood a ball of dark energy that threatened to explode in any second.

"Damn it" Minato didn't want to ignore his opponent even if the masked man wasn't in condition to even stand up, but he didn't have much of a choice, he needed to put seals around that ball before it exploded and killed them all. Once he did that he could reach his family with his technique in a second if necessary, but the masked man didn't even need that much. With a sinister grin hidden under the mask, Tobi threw himself at mother and son.

"Kushina!"

A cloud of smoke rose where his family stood. Minato waited long enough for the seal around the ball of energy was stable before rushing to it. A sigh of relief escaped his lips when he saw Kushina on the ground without any new injuries, he quickly picked her up. That man had gone after Naruto.

"Minato! Our son! Let me down, I'm going to kill that guy! Dattebane!"

"I will take care of it" Minato interrupted her, a steely glint in his eye as he watched the retreating figure. With a grunt he put his wife against a tree "I will get Naruto back to you. I promise, so don't move" Without waiting for an answer, Minato was already away in a yellow flash. In pursue of his wounded enemy, catching up to him quickly.

"Minato..." Kushina pursued her lips as tears ran freely down her cheeks "Please...please let Naruto be okay " Her hands were clenched in front of her, as if she was praying. Suddenly she had a coughing fit, blood flowing from her mouth. Kushina knew she was dying; the extraction of the Kyuubi would be her end. Her sight was turning black but with sheer determination kept it back.

_I will not die until I see my son, at least one more time_

"I...Na...ru..t" with each syllable she tried to stand up, like hell would she stay doing nothing while Minato risked his life for their son. She would help too! A sharp pain on her stomach, just where the seal was locates brought her to her knees.

"Kushina-san!" Before she could fall on her face, gentle hands were putting her gently on her back. Soft green light engulfed her body as a medic tried to keep her alive. Behind the medic, a old woman, was the Sandaime with a grim expression, giving orders to the ANBU.

"Kushina I must know what happened here!" The red-head smiled weakly at the furious expression of her medic; nonetheless the older woman stayed quiet and continued to heal Kushina.

"A man..." She coughed, but did her best to ignore the pain, the Hokage needed to know this "Took Naruto"

"Naruto? Why would Yondaime bring him here" the Sandaime wondered, his eyes quickly widened in understanding at the implication. Kushina sighed in relief; she didn't need to keep explaining "Two ANBU with me! The rest put up a barrier around that thing!" If Kushina was more coherent, she would have wondered what the Sandaime meant by that, but as it was she needed to conserve her energy.

Hiruzen stared with a troubled expression as Kushina Uzumaki closed her eyes, expression set on a pained frown. Her fate was set but she still continued to fight, Minato really knew how to pick them. The old man smiled slightly at the thought before concentrating on the bigger problem. His brown gaze went to the small but ominous ball made of dark red Chakra that was floating where the Kyuubi stood moments before. The Sandsime had to suppress a shudder, at the feeling.

Four of his best ANBUs were trying to contain the dark energy in a barrier to reinforce Yondaime's seal but the Sandaime knew it was a matter of time before it set free and destroyed the forest around them "As soon as Kushina-san is stable you all leave this place" he commanded before turning to the two ANBU he called before "We are going after the Yondaime"

"Hai!" The ANBU replied and soon they were gone, after the trail of special Kunai. Usually the yellow flash wasn't so careless as to leave them like this, but the old man could understand Minato's desperation. There was something that didn't leave him alone though. How it was that Minato sealed the Kyubi in Naruto without dying? Was he a fuinjustsu master already?

"Hokage-sama! We have caught up to them!" Hiruzen didn't have time for doubts anymore, now his successor needed him.

Minato was practically out of chakra but that wasn't going to stop him from getting his son back. His eyes narrowed when he saw the masked man stumble, now was his chance, with absolute precision he threw one of his kunai at the man. His eyes narrowed when the masked man had to dodge it. It didn't go through his opponent; instead it scratched the side of his head, breaking part of the mask and drawing blood.

Obito hissed when the Kunai scratched his cheek. For some reason the child in his arms was disturbing his chakra and he couldn't use his space-time technique. Not to mention his whole body hurt after taking such a beating. Damn it. He stared down at the uneasily calm child; red chakra could be seen dancing around him. What to do. He didn't have much time to think because the Yondaime was suddenly in front of him. The yellow flash had teleported to the Kunai in front of him and tried to take the child from his arms.

It was only luck that his leg chose that moment to give up on him, letting Obito escape the Yondaime by tumbling to the floor. At the curse that escaped the blond man's lips he smirked. It was obvious that the young Hokage would win in a fair fight, but Obito was everything but. With one last look at the baby he took out all of his explosive tags and threw them all around. This child needed to die, that is what his blood was singing to him. So far he had been able to resist the call, but not anymore.

"No" the word escaped the Yondaime's lips when he saw his enemy throwing around explosives. It would surely kill not only Naruto but the man as well. "You will die too if you activate them!" He screamed, hoping the man would hesitate, that was all he needed. Unfortunately the man wasn't faced.

"Will I?" The man said before putting his hand in a familiar seal "Kai!"

"Naruto!" The explosions drowned Minato's yell and threw him backward, his arms burned and he barely managed to Hiraishin away from the worst of the explosion "Damn it" The blond grunted as he stood up, taking a deep breath.

"Minato, are you okay? Where is Naruto"

With surprise he looked behind him "Sandaime Hokage!"

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When Naruto opened his eyes again, he could only see vague blurs of green. The sealing of the kyuubi took everything from him. The only reason why he wasn't still unconscious was that Kurama was giving off a sense of urgency.

His and Kurama's chakra were surrounding him in soft waves, he tried to take it back to his body to no avail. Blue eyes focused then on his carrier, and if he could, Naruto would have screamed at the face. It was a familiar mask, as if sensing his stare the sharingan focused on him. Naruto's small body started to shake at the sadistic glee in the red orb. Those weren't Obito's eyes, they were Madara's.

Next thing he knew Obito had let go of him and he was tumbling down, the masked man thankfully was looking at the direction of the other voices before disappearing, and didn't see how a cloak of red chakra enveloped the small blond child before the explosions were set off.

_Kurama_

That was the last thing Naruto thought before everything turned black. Trusting his partner to take care of his fragile body.

_You owe me brat._

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"Naruto..he…"Minato tried to explain but he couldn't find enough breath. He had touched that soft cheek and those beautiful blue eyes just like his had focused on his hand before the masked man had slipped away "Godammnit" he cried, falling to his knees and hitting the ground viciously.

"Check the area! Quick!" the Sandaime ordered, giving the blond time to compose himself. Naruto was dead or in hands of the enemy, if the masked man managed to escape that.

"There is not much to report sir" The ANBU with the cat mask said "The whole area has been blown away. Both targets should be dead"

"No" Sandaime looked down surprised at the abrupt answer from the Yondaime "What do you mean Minato?"

Minato took a deep breath before standing up, his eyes not betraying the storm inside "That man had some kind of space-time technique, like mine"

"Like the Yondaime's…"

"Yes, all of my attacks would go through him unless he initiated the attack" he replied absentmindedly, not caring if his audience wasn't following him.

"So you think he survived this explosion" The Sandaime took on a grave expression, it was no time for pleasantries "And most likely took Naruto with him. The Nine Tails is in possesion of the enemy"

"Not necessarily" The Yondaime commented, hand forming a fist, his knuckles white "For some reason he couldn't use that technique while carrying Naruto, but he did use it when he took Kushina. So maybe the seal wasn't stable yet and Kyuubi's chakra was destabilizing the technique. So he had to let go and that means that Naruto…"

Before he could continue a hand was on his shoulder, the blond looked at the Sandaime with unusually bright eyes and Hiruzen tightened his grip in understanding. "Come now, Kushina is waiting for you" The young Hokage startled and guilt entered his eyes "What will I tell her…"

The Sandaime took on a more stern posture "It does not matter what you tell her, you must be with her on her last moments" At that blue eyes turned to steel and focused on the older man, the Sandaime wasn't looking at a devastated father now but at a determined leader "Not if I have anything to say about it" With a last look at what used to be a beautiful landscape he prepared himself to Hiraishin away, they didn't have much time "Saindaime Hokage, please take care of Konoha a while longer"

"Of course Minato, go to your wife. You are the only one with the knowledge to save her"

"Thank you"

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**So it is done. The last chapter was more of a prologue so with this one I would really like to know what you think. And I want to thanks all of those who reviewed, followed or put on favorite this story, you really made my day.**


	3. Chapter 3 - Hope

**I made some changes to the previous episodes, nothing major so you don't really need to go back and read them. It was mostly fixes on typos.**

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**Chapter 03: Hope**

Minato appeared in the clearing with his heart in his hand. He took a deep breath before taking in his surroundings. The ball of Kyuubi's energy was being barely contained by his barrier, the ANBU doing what they could to maintain it stable. His gaze then went to the smoke coming from Konoha, with a pang he realized that there must be heavy loses, including his own son.

Finally his gaze trailed down until it rested on his wife. A medic ninja was doing her best to keep her alive, Kushina didn't have much longer. Her beautiful red hair was spilled around her, highlighting her paleness. "The Yondaime is here Kushina-san"

"Mi…nato?" Kushina breathed, a small smile forming on her lips, the blond knew it would disappear soon enough. Minato bit his lip and kneeled by her side "Kushina…"

Her eyes opened slowly at his tone of voice, her blue orbs taking in all of him "No…" she mumbled with a tinge of panic in her voice, brushing aside the medic when she tried to stop her from sitting up "Where is Naruto?!" The question was followed by a coughing fit. Minato put a hand around her as she trembled, trying to get oxygen back to her lungs.

"Kushina I…Naruto is" Minato's words got caught in his throat as he stared at her pleading eyes "I'm so s-" "I'm sorry Minato!"

"Huh?"

"I couldn't protect our son!" Kushina cried out, gripping her hair tightly, her knuckles going white at the pressure "It was my job! My responsibility! And I just let that bastard take him away" Tears dripped down her face as she recalled the moment the masked man threw her aside and took her son.

"And now I am leaving you too" Strong arms surrounded her on a warm embrace "I will not allow it" Minato said firmly, he could not let another precious person go "I will use the Shiki Fūjin to seal what is left of the Kyuubi's chakra back into you and-"

The Sandaime arrived just in time to hear that, his eyes widening at the implications. Before he could open his mouth to protest the sound of a hand hitting flesh could be heard across the clearing, every person listening winced as Minato touched his aching cheek as he stared dumbfounded at his enraged wife.

"You will do no such thing" she hissed, the anger giving her temporary strength "We don't know if it will even work and you could die for nothing! I won't let you sacrifice yourself for me!"

"Not to mention that the Village needs you Minato" Hiruzen said softly from his spot, sighing when the young couple ignored him. Minato would always think first on Konoha but Hiruzen knew it couldn't be easy to lose your newborn son and face the fact that your wife would be gone too.

"I can't lose you too Kushina, you need to understand that!" "Then find another way, you will not give your soul to the shinigami!"

Minato growled lowly in his throat, his mind knew that he couldn't sacrifice himself but his heart couldn't live with another failure. Unfortunately he knew that Kushina wouldn't let him save her with the only way he knew how to save her. He felt Kushina sigh and grip his cape on her pale hands "Is okay Minato, you need to take care of N-"

"Kushina!" He cried out, gripping her shoulder tightly when she started coughing again "There must be a way" He mumbled as he watched the medic work, he knew of no seal that could stop the Kyuubi. Minato glanced at the unstable energy and his eyes widened when he realized he was looking at the problem the wrong way. He didn't need to seal the whole bijuu, just a portion of it so that Kushina didn't die, that was the theory anyway. It would create an unstable seal and he would need an expert to take a look at it but it would maintain Kushina alive until they found someone competent. If there was someone who could find a seal master, an Uzumaki, would be his sensei, Jiraya.

"ANBU get away from that chakra!" He commanded, not surprised when the ninja immediately followed his instructions. Getting ready to put it back into Kushina "I will seal what we have of Kyuubi's chakra back into you Kushina. Hopefully it will work and you will avoid dying"

Kushina's eyes widened when she realized what Minato planned to do and she smiled warmly at her prodigious husband "So don't dare die on me now Kushina" he said with a grin, lighter now that he knew they got a chance.

"Don't worry Minato, I can't die until I see Naruto one last time" Minato's blue eyes widened at the statement "I don't go back on my word remember? That's my ninja way"

"But Kushina, Naruto's d-" "He is alive"

The Sandaime raised an eyebrow at that. Didn't Kushina know that he was making Minato suffer by saying those callous words? Maybe she was doing that in purpose to make the man suffer, Haruzen dismissed that idea immediately, Kushina Uzumaki was a lot of things, but cruel was not one of them "What makes you say that?"

"That's simple, I have told you before dummy, is because…" The red-head said with confidence "I'm his mother"

Minato startled, looking down at the redhead with wide eyes before a small but real smile appeared on his face "Then I will fulfill my part and find him" he said with a growing grin to the confusion of the audience "I am his father after all"

* * *

Naruto stood in his mindscape, staring up at the exhausted Kyuubi beyond the gate.

"Kurama?"

_Rest brat, we are finally more or less safe_

"What happened?"

_I saved your ass again, that happened. Now stop bothering me I need to sleep to regain my strength. And you better tighten the seal if you don't want to die. _

"You are so confusing! Moody fox"

_Immature brat. Don't bother me in at least 10 years. _

"What! What will I do for so long!? And what the hell is going on, I swear I felt my dad and mom's chakra a while ago. And I felt so… puny"

_Tch you really are idiotic. You will figure it out eventually. And you won't be able to do much anyway. _

"Hey! What do you even mean by that?"

_Listen well because I won't explain this again. Your body is not developed enough to match your older inner self, so most likely your body will be ruled by your basic instincts until the time is right. _

"Okaaay?"

"_You don't get It"_ Kurama said in amusement "_Don't worry, you will understand soon enough_"

"I really don't get it. I learn better by doing stuff anyway dattebayo" Naruto said with a grin, putting his hands behind his head before turning serious "Hey Kurama, are you okay?"

The bijuu opened one eye, staring down at Naruto with intensity before snorting and closing it again "_Of course I am. I just need rest so really don't bother me_" With a flick of one of his tail he gathered a bit of chakra and let it float to the other side "_You won't be able to use your chakra for a while so in case of an emergency use that_" The fox mumbled, his voice growing fainter "_Only death or life situation brat, or you will regret the consequences. Goodnight_"

Naruto smiled softly as his mindscape started to dissolve, the fox was a mother hen sometimes. His eyes started to drop and he willing let himself fall back into sweet oblivion.

* * *

"Kaiza! Look what we found!" A small child cried out happily, going up to her cousin and dragging him to where her older sister had an infant in her arms "A kid?" he asked surprised and pleased that now with return of the little girl all of the party were accounted for. The explosion had caused panic on the group and they had separated "Can we keep it?"

Kaiza rubbed the back of his head, not knowing what to do "I don't know Annie. Anyway don't go running off again, you gave everyone a scare" He exchanged a relieved look with the little girl's sister "I promised I won't leave the group ever again! Even if the explosions were scaaary"

"Maybe we should go back to Konoha? And see if they are okay?" The young fisherman was worried of the explosion as well and of all the smoke that was coming from Konoha's direction, but his idea was immediately put down.

"Brat! Don't go around giving your opinion!" Tazuna exclaimed from the head of the small party of fishermen "I am the leader here and we are not going back! We completed the trade and we don't owe Konoha anything!"

"Aww but what about the baby we found old man?" Tazuna clenched his jaw shut and resisted the urge to scream at the naïve child. He didn't know what to do with the baby either and it was making him feel irritated "Dad, we should take the baby with us" His young daughter said, the old man sighed resignedly. Anni, the girl who found the baby in the first place was cheering in the background.

"Very well. But I won't take care of it Tsunami!" His daughter smiled and nodded before going to her friend and Annie so they could gush together over the baby. She was oblivious to the enamored look Kaiza was throwing her.

* * *

"Minato, you did it" Said blond looked up from where he had been staring at the peaceful expression of his sleeping wife "When did you get here Jiraya sensei?" He asked with an exhausted smile.

"A few minutes after you started to seal what was left of the Kyuubi's chakra" Jiraya stared at the new seal that adorned Kushina's mid-section with a critical eye. It wasn't perfect but for a rushed work it was as good as it could get "What's with that thing anyway? Awful convenient"

Minato sighed resignedly "To be honest I'm not completely sure. We will need to be extra careful; at least it means that Kushina is alive"

Jiraya raised an eyebrow but let the matter drop, he knew his student well enough to know that Minato wouldn't let the matter rest until he had all the answers. "The old man is taking care of the aftermath, you should rest Minato" Jiraya said, already knowing the answer but trying anyway.

"I am okay, the village needs me now" Minato commented lightly, watching as a group of medics came with a stretcher to take Kushina away to the clinic.

Jiraya grinned before slapping Minato in the back, hard "So manly you are my best student! Who would have thought that girly boy would transform into this!"

"Sensei!" Minato cried out, flustered "If you have time to tease me you have time to help around Konoha, come on now" Minato said with another grin before he used Hiashin to flash away.

"How I wish I could learn that technique" The older man grumbled good naturedly before following after the blond, oblivious to the figure hiding behind a tree.

Obito grinned when the two powerful men disappeared. With calm steps he approached the place Kushina had been laying on not long ago, not worried at all of being discovered, he could get away in the blink of an eye if necessary. Obito stared at the red strands of hair in his hands that he just picked up with his Sharingan, it was all he would need for his next plan.

It would be hours later that Jiraya and Minato would be able to visit the place again and by then any trails that Obito or Tobi as he was going as now, was there would be long gone.

"You did well Minato"

Student and teacher were seated comfortably in the Hokage's office, drinking sake after long hours of work but at least Konoha had some semblance of order. _So much was lost._

"Don't think on that now Minato, be happy that the village you are responsible of protecting is strong and already is getting back to its feet"

"Sensei…" Minato said, closing his mouth when Jiraya signaled that he wasn't done "I know that not everything went as you wanted, but you did manage to protect the village, if it wasn't for you Konoha wouldn't exist as we know it anymore" Jiraya hummed before sipping his drink "It would probably have a giant crater right in the middle of it"

Minato signed resigned and nodded "I wasn't strong enough though, anyway sensei I need help" he said seriously.

"You know you only need to ask"

"Is about Kushina's new seal" Minato explained gratefully "It is an experiment that Kushina and I have been working on for the last few years or so and while I know I can figure out a way to make it more stable in a few months, we still will need a true sealing master to take a look at it"

"You want me to find one of the last survivors of the Uzumaki clan, don't you?"

"Yes"

"Consider it done"

"Thank you so much, you don't know how much this means to me"

Jiraya laughed before standing up and reaching out to mess with Minato's blond spiky hair "I think I have an idea. You better go to bed now, you look dead on your feet" He commented good naturally before heading to the door "I will leave tomorrow after checking on the old man. If you need time to find Naruto don't hesitate to ask him for help"

Minato grinned tiredly "Is not the Sandaime I am worried about, but Danzo" Jiraya grunted, both knew how tricky Danzo could be but they couldn't do much about him yet "Take care Jiraya"

"You as well"

* * *

Naruto felt the time pass. But as a distant thing, mostly he just existed within the cage that kept the Kyuubi, his mental form resting beside the big fox. Sometime he would have glimpses of the life outside; mostly of himself being cared for by young woman who was strangely familiar but he couldn't quite place her.

To the people of the Wave Country, who knew Naruto, he was an unnerving child. He didn't cry, not even once had the people seen the child Tsunami took in cry, not in hunger or pain, even to call attention. He simple never made a sound, and his blue eyes always were dazed, as if he was somewhere else, not with them.

Tsunami watched the young child. He was seated in a swing, watching with those dazed eyes as the other children played. "Tsunami, maybe you should take the boy to a doctor, he is just not normal" Tsunami's best friend commented, that was another thing; the small blond wouldn't answer to any name, so they were stuck calling him child or other nicknames. The young girl sighed "I know, but we don't have money, ever since Gato came…" She trailed off, rubbing her swelling stomach, seeing the action, her friend put on a worried front.

"How are you holding up?" she asked worriedly, she knew that Tsunami´s lover had died recently, no one knew how, thankfully Kaiza had been taking good care of her friend. Everyone knew that Kaiza had feelings for Tsunami, except the young girl herself.

"Is been alright, Kaiza is always taking care of me" she said with a soft smile.

"You know how are you going to call the baby?" Asked her friend "You still sure it is going to be a boy?"

"Yes" Tsunami said with a bright smile, rubbing her belly "His name will be Inari" She giggled with her friend and turned to keep watch on her other charge, the young blonde she called a little brother "He is looking at me"

"What?" Her best friend asked, turning to watch the child as well. Indeed the blond was looking at Tsunami. For the first time in four years there was awareness in those blue eyes.

"Little brother" Tsunami exclaimed, walking quickly to kneel before the blond, doing her best to maneuver with her belly "Are you okay?"

Big blue eyes blinked and stared at her in confusion, titling his head as if trying to place her face somewhere "Is me, your older sister, Tsunami" She said softly, caressing his check, smiling when he leaned into it.

"T-tsunami" His eyes widened in understanding before grinning, his eyes left her to look around before resting on her belly, staring at it dumbfounded before realization entered those eyes "Inari?" He asked cutely.

Tsunami could hear her friend cooing over her shoulder "Yes!" she said happily "You will meet him soon" Tsunami stood up with the help of her friend and clapped her hands together "Come now, father and Kaiza will be overjoyed to know this! You had us all worried little brother"

With that said the older woman took hold of Naruto's hand and started to drag him somewhere. Naruto let himself be led as he tried to figure out what was happening. For one thing it was confirmed that he was in the past, now he finally understood Kurama's comment about his younger body not handling his older self, even now he knew that not all of his self was present, only his more basic and childish instincts. He closed his eyes and searched for his chakra, it was barely there and after Kurama's warning he didn't want to use it.

"-ttle brother!" A voice called out near him, he blinked and focused once again on the younger face of Tsunami, he could still remember that first C turned A mission. Naruto couldn't understand how he ended up in the wave country "You had me worried there, don't go spacing out again"

"Umm okay" he said slowly, before looking ahead, they stopped in front of a familiar house, Tazuna´s house. He could hear yelling inside, so he could only guess who was being yelled at by Tazuna.

"Father! Stop bothering Kaiza" Tsunami said once she entered, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at the pouting older man "Anyway, I want you to meet someone" She said happily, moving aside to show a wide eyed Naruto. At first both men stared at Tsunami as if she was crazy before they noticed that there was something different about the small boy.

"Wait a second" a young Kaiza said, Naruto could see even now how he would become the man of that picture, a Hero to Inari "Blondie!" he exclaimed and rushed to the startled Naruto, lifting him up with ease "Look at you! This is… this is amazing!" He shared a happy grin with Tsunami and even old Tazuna had a soft look in his eyes when he watched the now aware child "You are not a mindless puppet anymore!"

"Kaiza!" The young woman exclaimed, hitting him over the head "Sorry sorry" he said with an apologetic grin before turning back to the overwhelmed blond, Naruto felt so loved in that small family "Now we can finally get you a name, you wouldn't answer to anything! So what about …"

"Naruto" The blond said suddenly, startling himself and the small family "Umm, I'm Naruto"

Everyone was staring at Naruto with dumbfounded expression before Tsunami giggled "Naruto it is then" she said happily "This deserves special dinner. Just you wait" With that the young woman disappeared to the kitchen leaving two chuckling men and one smiling blond.

Naruto yawned; he tried to keep his eyes open but his small body won the battle. He felt strong arms wrap around him carefully, his small head resting against a strong shoulder. Absentmindedly he could hear Kaiza and Tazuna speaking before he fell asleep. His last thought was that he could get used to this.

* * *

**Like? Should I continue? **

**Anyway just so everyone knows, so far I don't imagine Naruto with anyone, but that can change, it could even be slash. Nothing is in stone so far.**

**I don't like much OCs but as I don't know many characters from Inari's village I had to make up some. They won't play a major role but I would appreciate help with names for them though :P**


	4. Chapter 4 - Changes

**The last chapter got so many reviews and they really inspired me to continue writing! To show you my gratitude I made this chapter longer than usual, hope you like it. **

**Here are some Japanese terms. I try not to use them much unless it sounds weird when writing the same in English. **

Shinobi = Ninja

Kunoichi=Female Ninja

Saindaime=Third Hokage

Dattebayo= has no literal meaning and cannot be translated, but carries the connotations of the speaker being uncultured, brusque, and seeming tougher than they really are.

Nindo=Ninja Way

Ne=Sentence-final particle indicating a "tag question", a question inviting the listener to indicate agreement.

**Answers to reviews: **

TheHiddenAngel: Will use these names on the future, thank you :3

warrof: Yup, I know but maybe I didn't put it clearly in the chapter o.o And about Kushina, you will see.

lalola (guest): This chapter should answer your last question XP

Pabu (Guest): No harem in this story. So no worries.

**And now to the Chapter.**

* * *

"I'm done"

"Already?"

"I'm a fast learner dattebayo!" Naruto grinned and gave the paper he was working on to his sister Tsunami. The young woman smiled and took it, her eyes quickly going over its content.

"You are really weird Naruto" She said without malice, getting a sheepish smile from the blond. She hummed in thought and leaned over Naruto who was still seated at his desk "You made a mistake here"

Naruto groaned but eyed the letters critically, and fixed his mistake carefully "Yes! I am a step closer to fulfilling my dream!"

Tsunami giggled and played with the soft blond hair of the eight year old child "Why do you want to have such good penmanship?"

"Because it will let me do really cool things later on" Naruto rubbed his hands together, now if he could only get his hands on a sealing scroll.

Tsunami huffed but let Naruto keep his secrets "Go out and play for a while, I need to prepare dinner" Naruto nodded and was running down the stairs before she could say anything else.

"Be back in an hour!" Tsunami yelled after him, crossing her arms over her chest when Naruto waved to let her know he heard her "How much you have grown Naruto"

* * *

"I never thought I would say this, but I really miss you Kurama"

Naruto lost track of time as he stared up at the darkening sky, his hand aching after writing so much. His head turned to the side, taking in the small clearing he was resting in. He met Haku in this same spot, a kind boy who only wanted to be useful to his precious person and who inspired Naruto's nindo. Hopefully Naruto could change enough things to avoid his death.

Somehow the blond needed to go back to Konoha, unfortunately without his chakra he simply couldn't travel such a long distance by himself, he tried and failed, worrying his new family to death when they found his exhausted form not that far away from the soon to be bridge. Naruto knew they still wondered how he made it to the other side.

"Who do you miss?" Lost in thought he didn't notice the person standing at the edge of the clearing until they spoke, startling Naruto, he quickly sat up and looked in direction of the voice with wide eyes, relaxing when he recognized Tsunami. She was family and he trusted her, sadly there were things he simply could not tell her.

"A…friend of mine" Naruto mumbled with a fond smile, oblivious to the worried look his sister was giving him.

Tsunami sighed and took a seat besides Naruto, looking up as starts appeared one by one "I got worried when you didn't come back home"

"Is time for dinner already?!" Naruto exclaimed, looking down guiltily "I'm sorry, I lost track of time…"

"Don't worry" She was quick to reassure. Tsunami bit her lip trying to figure out what was going on behind those pained blue eyes that didn't belong in such a young face. She turned his face gently to stare at Naruto whom avoided her gaze "Is there something you want to tell me?"

Tsunami somehow knew that Naruto was aware of where he came from, even if logically he was too young at the time to notice what was happening. His eyes and the way he carried himself gave him away, he walked as if he had the weight of the world on his frail shoulders. But every time any of them asked, be Tazuna, Kaiza or her, he would keep silent or change the topic.

Instead of pushing she was always there, offering comfort and a willing ear in the off-chance he finally wanted to tell what was on his mind. She really cared for Naruto and only wanted his happiness

"I…" It was easy to see that Naruto was conflicted. He worried his bottom lip, trying to come up with something to say.

"Is okay, you don't have to say anything if you are not ready" Tsunami said, giggling a bit at Naruto's astonished expression "I know you are keeping things from us"

"Big sis…"

Tsunami raised her hand to stop Naruto "Just know that I will always be here for you, ne?"

Naruto would always be part of her family, a younger brother. When they took him in she wasn't ready to call him her son and now that she was a proper mother, she couldn't bring herself to change things. There was something about Naruto that said that he had seen far too many things in his short life to be considered a normal child. Even if he acted immature practically all the time, there just was something in his gaze that separated him from the rest, even herself.

"Thank you" If Naruto's eyes glazed over with tears, neither of them commented on it.

Tsunami pinched Naruto's nose, getting a startled laugh in response "Come now, dinner is ready. I'm sure you don't want to miss Kaiza going on and on about that bridge he is building, don't you?"

Naruto laughed and took her hand when she offered it, walking back home with a smile on his face. They arrived at Tazuna's house to find both Kaiza and Inari dripping wet, next to Naruto, Tsunami was trying hard to keep her giggles to herself at their state.

"What happened?" Naruto asked with wide eyes.

"It was his fault!" Both men and child said at the same time, pointing to each other, even if the latter had more difficulty in pronouncing the words. While they bickered Naruto thought back to what Inari from his original time said long ago. This moment changed the life of the small family. After rescuing Inari from drowning, Kaiza became a father to Inari and eventually Tsunami and Kaiza married.

The shocked gasp from Tsunami brought him back from the memories to the present. His blue eyes followed the woman's gaze to Kaiza's kneeling position. Inari looked on with confusion.

"Well..um..Tsunami…Would you marry me?"

There was a tense second of silence before Tsunami sobbed and threw herself at Kaiza's arms "Of course! Yes, yes! I would love that!"

"Kaiza dad now?" Inari asked innocently, leaving the strong Kaiza as a blubbering mess. Naruto grinned and messed with the young child's hair "Yes. Kaiza is just too happy to form words"

Naruto stared at the happy couple for a moment, his presence already changed a few things, and if he had anything to say about it all of the changes would be for the better "Come on Inari, you need a warm shower"

"'kay big bro!"

* * *

"How is the bridge coming along?" Tsunami asked later that night, resting her head on Kaiza's shoulder. Both were on a bench outside the house, watching the stars.

"There were some weird people observing us working today, but they didn't approach. Aside from that everything went alright" he commented with an absentminded smile "Why do you ask?"

"I'm worried about Naruto"

"You always are…"

"Don't tease me" She said with a pout, pausing for a moment "This is serious"

She played with the ring that now adorned her hand "Something is bothering him and I know that he will get restless if he doesn't have something to do"

Kaiza scratched the back of his head with his free arm. Like Tsunami, he treated Naruto as a younger brother or even a close cousin but it was in cases like this, when Naruto showed a maturity far beyond his age that Kaiza felt helpless. No matter how much he pestered, Naruto wouldn't tell him what was wrong.

"So what do you want to do?"

"I was thinking he could go with you tomorrow and help around. You know how much he likes that" she said with a fond smile, thinking of the helpful blond that won over the heart of their small village with his cheerful nature.

"Sure, sounds like a plan" Kaiza said with smile, relaxing back on the bench.

"So why don't you tell me what you did with Inari today?"

"Well…"

Naruto in the meantime was calmly staring at the ceiling of his and Inari's room. His focus inward, trying to feel the Kyuubi again, but he barely felt the presence of the Nine tails.

_-Kurama did say it would take him lots of years to recuperate-_ He thought with disappointment.

The last few years had been kind to the blond. He got the opportunity to go through a normal childhood, without all that resentment and hatred from the majority of his own village. People in the Wave were wary of him at first, of the '_doll child_' as he used to be called. Not like Naruto could help it when he spaced out, the incidents were getting shorter and shorter and the blond hoped that soon they would be gone forever. He knew his body needed time to catch up with his mind but it didn't mean he had to like it.

It was frustrating at first, not being able to do the simplest things. Even feeling his chakra was impossible. At least he now knew why he couldn't, the strain of using the Kyuubi's chakra at such a young age burned all his pathways, he simply couldn't use it. And he had to consider himself lucky, just a bit more and he could have ended as a civilian.

Naruto turned to lay on his side, his eyes hidden by blond bangs. He didn't really want to leave the Wave country behind, but Konoha needed him, he had enjoyed enough. The question was how he would get there.

He didn't know how long he rested there with his eyes open but unseeing, his mind on his memories. Naruto obviously fell asleep at some point because he was rudely awakened the next morning.

"Kaiza? Why are you here so early? I wanna sleep" Naurto grumbled, trying to burrow further in his bed. Said man was unfazed and dragged Naruto out anyway by the back of his pajama, easily ignoring the pout Naruto was throwing at him.

"Tsunami thought it would be nice if you accompanied me to the soon to be awesome Kaiza Bridge, what do you say?" Kaiza asked with a smug smile, setting Naruto back on the ground. He knew the blond couldn't resist an offer like that, and he was right.

"Yeah! Why didn't you say that sooner! I need to get outside more dattebayo!" Naruto exclaimed, for once acting his age and running around the room getting his things ready. Ignoring Inari's annoyed mumbling

"I will wait for you downstairs, don't take too long blondie" Kaiza said with an amused grin, messing Naruto and Inari's hair before leaving.

* * *

"I'm starving!"

Kaiza who was about to make good use of his hammer looked at Naruto who was sprawled on the ground next to him. The older man sighed and rubbed his own stomach when it voiced it's complain. They have been working all morning on the other half of the bridge, the one connected to the fire country.

"You are not the only one squirt" Kaiza commented, leaving the hammer on the ground and raising his hands over his head to stretch the muscles of his back. Making sure that the old man Tazuna wasn't near to scold him.

"We should totally…" Naruto trailed off at the feeling on eyes on him. With a frown he stood up and looked at the nearby road, oblivious to the worried look Kaiza was sending him.

At first glance there only seem to be wave workers around him, but unusual movement at the corner of his eyes made him turn his head just in time to see a shadow moving in the trees. Naruto squinted his eyes trying to spot it again but the natural mist of the place didn't let him see much.

"Naruto?" Kaiza curiously, trying to spot what caught the young boy's attention, but he didn't spot anything out of the usual, only trees. He turned his eyes back to Naruto to spot the worried frown on the blond's face.

"Something is not right" Naruto said absentmindedly tugging at his hair "We are not alone…"

Kaiza's eyes widened, if that was true he needed to tell the rest, they couldn't afford Gatou finding what they were doing.

"You sure?" His only answer was a sharp nod from Naruto who was busy looking around trying to get a weapon to defend himself with "Okay, wait right he-"

But before Kaiza could finish his sentence a scream filled the construction site, making everyone stand up in alert and start speaking at each other trying to figure what was going out. Kaiza cursed, the worst thing they could do was panic.

"Old man Tazuna!" He yelled over the other men, trying to be heard over the frightened men. An answering yell had him sprinting to the source, moving quickly through the mass of bodies. In no time he was standing next to the crouched form of Tazuna who was checking over someone.

"Tazuna what?" The old man raised his hand, getting silence from people around.

"Tozuo was attacked" Tazuna said, gesturing to the pained man on the ground. The one who screamed in the first place, on his shoulder was buried a ninja weapon. The injury was bleeding heavily. Kaiza gulped and looked around but he couldn't spot who could have thrown the weapon, people around where doing the same, holding a variety of tools close.

Before they could panic further a chuckle was heard in the silence.

"If you had killed him in time we wouldn't have been spotted" Came from the figures that slowly started to come out from the heavy mist. Kaiza tensed, clenching his fist when he recognized the figure at the head of the group. It was none other than Gatou.

"What do you want?!" Tazuna asked enraged. He had stood up after ordering the others to take care of the downed man.

"Isn't it obvious?" Gatou asked with a dark smirk, full of confidence. Behind him were a bunch of men he hired for this job, he even got hold of two ninjas "Is not in my best interest to have this bridge, but you refused to stop building when I came the other time"

Kaiza hadn't known that, it probably was on one of his free days. He clenched his fist and took a step forward "Well the answer is the same! We need this bridge! Is for the good of the people, we won't let you do as you please anymore!"

Gatou frowned when the wave men started to murmur and nod in agreement, taking whatever tool they could use as a weapon to defend themselves. He only had seven people with him and while two of them had some ninja training, they weren't that strong. He didn't expect much of a fight after all. "Kill that man, we will make an example out of him" he whispered to one of the ninjas, his eyes never leaving Kaiza's form.

"For once you said something intelligent" Tazuna said with a smirk, but it was quickly replaced by a frown "Where is Naruto?"

Kaiza felt his blood freeze, he had left the child by himself, and he could only pray Naruto would stay out of the fight. Before he could answer Gatou's men were charging at them, swords ready to spill blood. After that Kaiza had to use all his concentration to keep himself alive, but it was no use, before long two thugs had him between them, holding his arms behind him.

"Kaiza!" He heard his name yelled by some of his friends, but they were kept back by the remaining thugs, so far no one had died at least.

"I will show you know what happened to those who defy me!" Gatou said, standing before Kaiza. The younger man growled and tried in vain to get free.

Tazuna watched in fear as one of the thugs offered Gatou a sword, the fat man accepted it with glee and pointed it at Kaiza, who stilled when the tip cut his cheek.

"Let's start by your arms shall we?" Gatou said raising the sword above his head.

Kaiza's eyes widened, his heart was beating a mile a minute. –_I'm going to die-_ He thought despondently, watching as if in slow motion the sword going down –_Naruto, Inari - _A sardonic smile appeared on his face as he closed his eyes and resigned to his fate _–Tsunami, I'm sorry"_

"Naruto!" Tazuna screamed. Kaiza's eyes snapped open and his jaw almost hit the ground at what he saw. Gatou was clutching the side of his face, a bloodied rock near him on the ground. But the focus of his astonishment was the young boy he considered family. Naruto had his arm still stretched out, his blue eyes showing his determination.

Before anyone could react Naruto was rushing to the sword Gatou had dropped in his haste to grave the side of his head that was heavily bleeding after being hit by the rock. Kaiza watched with disbelieving eyes as Naruto expertly used the weapon and made to cut the people holding him, they quickly let go to avoid being hurt.

"I won't let you hurt my precious family dattebayo!" Naruto yelled, pointing the sword to the still moaning Gatou who fell to his knees, not used to being harmed in any way. The two men who had been holding Kaiza moved to stand behind the fat man, eyeing the sword on Naruto's hands nervously. If the situation wasn't so grave Kaiza would have laughed.

Gatou took his hands away from his head, barely noticing that his dark glasses were broken, his attention was on the blood that now stained his hands, **his** blood.

"You will pay for this!" he screeched at Naruto "Get him!"

* * *

Outside he looked more or less calm, but inside his thoughts were racing. Naruto barely managed to avoid his hands from shaking, he dared to look behind him, Kaiza was still on his knees looking at him as if he had grown another head. "Don't worry, I won't let him harm you"

Naruto bit his lip, he was almost too late to save Kaiza and that thought scared him. He mentally cursed his young body and lack of chakra.

"I will like to see you try!" And with that both sides started to fight again.

They were at a stalemate. While they had the number advantage Gatou had more experienced fighter and proper weapons. So far they had managed to avoid death but Naruto knew It wouldn't stay that way for long. A startled yell caught his attention and he turned just in time to see Tazuna fall to a wound to his shoulder, men around him in similar state or worst and the ninja responsible had a kunai in hand ready to stab the old man.

"No you don't" Naruto mumbled, quickly dodging the three men that were trying to get a hold of him. Naruto threw his sword as hard as he could at Gatou's ninja. A relieved smile appeared on his face when the sword hit true and the ninja went down with a scream but his relief was short-lived, the other ninja seeing that his companion was down threw himself at Naruto with renewed vengeance.

Naruto had trained and he had the memories but it wasn't enough to go against four men, one of them being a ninja, a weak one but a ninja nonetheless. Without a weapon the Konoha Shinobi had no chance and a hard punch to his stomach had him in the ground trying to regain his breath.

"Naruto!" He heard Kaiza scream as someone lifted him by a handful of his hair. He opened on eye to stare at the smug bloodied face of Gatou, his young hands still gripping his bruised mid-section as his feet dangled from the ground.

"You got hold of quite a kid Tazuna" The old man clenched his fist and refused to rise to the taunt, trying to kill Gatou with his glare alone.

Gatou laughed and signaled his man to let go of the young blond. Naruto fell painfully and weakly tried to get his knees and arms underneath him. But before he could someone put their foot on his back, not letting him get up.

"Let him go!" Kaiza said trying to get free from the two constructors holding him back from rushing head first against the armed men.

"This is your fault" Gatou said, still holding Naruto down, putting more weight on Naruto, making the young boy yelp.

"Don't listen to him Kaiza" One of the men holding him back hissed in his ear.

"None of this would have happened if you agreed to my terms" Kaiza put his head down in shame and clenched his eyes shut in guilt. He got himself out of the now slack grip, looking at the pained grimace on his little brother's face.

"We will do as you say" Kaiza said resignedly. People around him weren't happy but they couldn't bring themselves to sacrifice a small child, especially one who bought so much joy to their lives with his sunny personality and easy smile.

"At least one of you is clever" Gatou commented as he took in the defeated postures of people in front of him "I think I will keep the boy" he drawled, letting one of his minion tie the boy up. He enjoyed the look of surprise and helplessness "You know, as an assurance that this won't be built behind my back once I am gone"

"Let me go you sick bastard! One of the countries will know about this and send ninja to kick your ass!"

Sharp pain in his cheek made Naruto stop talking, he glared up at Gatou who just slapped him "They only help those with money, and this village does not have any, I have been making sure of that. Just give up boy" he commented.

"Damnit!" Kaiza hissed, with Naruto in their hands they couldn't do anything. He could see it in the other's eyes. They didn't want the small boy be harmed because of them.

"Take me instead then" Tazuna said suddenly, with a frown "If you need assurance then let the boy go" Kaiza gaped at the words and looked at Tazuna in a new light. He knew that the old man had it in him. Ignoring the protest around him he took a step forward "No, take me"

As if something had been broken, people all around started offer their own selves instead of Naruto. The Kyuubi holder had to fight to keep the tears back. But the moment was interrupted when Gatou put a knife to his throat, silence was instantaneous.

"No, I'm taking the boy, don't think I have forgotten what he did to my beautiful face. So if you want him to continue living you will do as I say!"

Gatou could feel blood and sweat run down his temple, his men were tired and if the constructors all rallied again against them again, they would lose. Fortunately he still had the upper hand with the child in his grasp. He nodded to the thug holding the kid and they slowly began to retreat. Unfortunately for him he wasn't dealing with a normal brat but with one special Naruto Uzumaki.

"Don't listen to him Kaiza!" Naruto yelled uncaring of the knife at his throat "I will get free of them and come back. And I expect the bridge to be finished by then dattebayo!"

"Gag him!"

"Is a promise!" Naruto shouted, evading as he could the hands that tried to silence him "And I never go back in my word! That's my –mghb" Naruto glared hatefully at the people who didn't let him finish. He managed to give the hopeless looking Kaiza a last encouraging look before a hit on the back of his head made him black out. At least Naruto found happiness in the knowledge that he avoided Kaiza's death.

* * *

Naruto woke up later when his sore stomach was jarred painfully against the bony shoulder that carried him. He opened his eyes blearily but something was obstructing his vision, a blindfold most likely. At least he didn't have a gag anymore. His arms were tied behind him as well. Unfortunately his consciousness was noticed by his captors and before he knew it, Naruto was thrown painfully to the ground. A small exclamation of pain escaped him, much to his captors' entertainment.

They were probably taking Naruto to one of Gatou's bases even if he couldn't feel the man's presence anymore. With care he started to reach a small knife he still had strapped to his right arm. They would soon see what happens when they underestimate him.

* * *

Asuma sighed and wished he could take out one of his cigarettes. He glanced at the pair of Chuunin he got stuck on for this mission. Kurenai would kill him if he stated smoking in her presence. At least right now she was too busy bickering with Aoba.

"I can't wait to be a Jounin, that way we won't take any more boring C missions from these old geezers!" Aoba commented with a yawn, he put his hands behind his brown spiky hair, it looked so much like Kakashi's but instead of a mask the young man had dark lenses.

"It's part of being a shinobi" Kurenai said reproachful, giving Aoba one of her glares. She easily ignoring the part of her that wanted to become a Jounin as well "And you shouldn't be disrespectful to our client, is unbecoming"

Asuma wondered if he should tell them that the Hokage wanted to promote them already, hearing Aoba antagonize Kurenai again made him thought against it. Kurenai was mature enough to hear the news but Aoba wasn't ready yet and would end up ruining the whole thing.

They were on their way back to Konoha after being bodyguards to a small caravan that was going to the Wind country. It had been tedious and their clients annoying but they paid enough for this to be considered a B mission.

Something in the atmosphere made him stop, immediately the two ninjas that were behind him stopped as well, waiting for him to inform them of the situation. Asuma unnecessary raised a hand to hold their questions, as both shinobi were waiting patiently.

Asuma could hear a group of people approaching them. A few hand signs later had the three shinobi hidden around the main road, patiently waiting for the possible threat.

Kurenai leaned against the tree, worrying her bottom lip as she prepared herself for the worst case scenario, enemy shinobi. Fortunately a few minutes later a small group of bandits appeared in her visions, she relaxed slightly and waited for Asuma to give a signal.

"Our guest is awake" one of them said. Kurenai narrowed her eyes when said bandit threw the thing he had over his shoulder onto the flour, her eyes widened when she realized it was a person "Should I knock him out again?"

"You are too much of a coward to fight me! I will kick your ass when I get out of this rope!" They were harming a child, the thought made Kurenai's blood boil. The blond couldn't be older than nine or ten years old. Her hand went to the pouch strapped to her leg, quietly taking out her shuriken.

"Shut up brat!" The man shouted, backhanding the kid back to the ground "The boss only wants you alive not unharmed so if I were you I would be careful with that mouth"

"Good thing you are not me then! I wouldn't want to be so stupid!" Naruto said back, ignoring the ache of his cheek and standing up again, it was difficult because he couldn't use his arms but he was stubborn enough to keep trying.

"You little-"The man raised his hand to hit the child again, but before the fist could connect a form appeared between them "That's enough!" To Kurenai's surprise Aoba got in between the man's raised fist and the child's form. She heard Asuma curse from her side as the bandits quickly got over their surprise and attacked Aoba. Both of them got into the fight to back up their teammate. Unfortunately one of the bandits was quick enough to take hold of Naruto and put a sword to his throat.

"Cowards" Aoba hissed, retreating when the man threatened to harm the child.

"They are Konoha shinobi! We need to get out of here!" One of them stated, fear in his voice "Stop acting like a girl, we have the advantage here" said the man with a smirk, harshly moving Naruto to have a better hold of him, knife positioned at his throat. Naruto tried to escape but the sword nipped his throat, letting a thin line of blood drip down to his collar bone.

"This child was taken from Konoha" The man bluffed, relaxing a bit when the Leaf shinobi stiffened, they had believed him "From what I know, your village treasures their children" the man drawled on, making his opponents more furious "Shall we test the veracity of that?!"

"Let the boy go and your punishment won't be so severe" The red eyed Kunoishi said. The man laughed in response "Are you joking?" He asked before suddenly turning serious, they couldn't fight and hope to win, not when the ninjas they used to have on the group went with Gatou, well the remaining one seeing as the blond in his hands injured the other one.

Naruto's eyes widened when he felt the killing intent of the man, as if in slow motion he saw the blade get closer and closer to his vulnerable flesh. As if on autopilot he felt the rope tying him up give, without wasting time he elbowed the man. Sharp pain in his throat let him know he wasn't fast enough even If he avoided the worst of the man as he tried to slit Naruto's throat.

Absentmindedly the blond heard yells around him but he was more focused on putting both hands on his throat to avoid bleeding out to death. Without hesitation he threw himself to the side and reached for the chakra Kyuubi had put aside for his use. This was definitely an emergency.

The group of bandits was now without a hostage and that was all the group of shinobi in front of them needed. In a flash the battle started again, Naruto did his best to stay out of the way.

* * *

Asuma was surprised. The kid had not given up even in his situation, if what the man said was true, the kid would be a good addition to Konoha ranks. He dared a glance at said kid, noticing with a sense of urgency that he was bleeding way too much.

-_He didn't get out of that hold unscathed_- He thought. They needed to give him medical attention fast, with that he renewed his efforts to subdue the group of bandits. But his distraction cost him, before he knew it a Kunai was going the kid's way. While it wouldn't hurt any of them physically, it would be a hard blow to their morale, something that could give them the chance to escape.

But to his astonishment the kid used a small knife to deflect the weapon. –_Probably what he used to cut the ropes_-

"That kid..." He mumbled, using his enemy's own distraction to end the fight quickly with his wind enchanted blade. His gaze traveled to the kid who was slumped against the tree. The blond had gotten paler and from his position he could see that the small child was trembling as he tried to stop the blood. This was bad.

"Kurenai!" He yelled, the genjutsu mistress nodded and quickly dispatched her opponent before running to knelt besides the injured boy, her hands shook slightly at the amount of blood. She cursed herself for her weakness. If only she knew at least some medical jutsu she would be able to help the young boy.

Quickly she took out bandages from her pouch and with care replaced that to place pressure on the wound. "Don't worry, everything will be alright" She tried to reassure, doing her best to stop the tears from escaping her eyes. It just wasn't fair. Absentmindedly she heard her two teammates finish up and come to her side, kneeling at both sides of her.

"Is he…"Aoba started hesitantly, raising a hand to take the blindfold off the kid, revealing pained blue eyes. Asuma's own widened when they finally had a good view of the boy's face, it was familiar. He was one of the few who knew of the Yondaime's lost son, and this kid resembled the man too much to be coincidence.

The kid give each of them a long look before his eyes started to close, going limp as his body shut down.

"Kid! Come one little guy, don't go to sleep-" Asuma stopped Aoba from continuing, his gaze firmly in the boy's still moving chest.

"Impossible" Kurenai breathed, coming to the same realization as Asuma "He is still breathing, he just fell asleep, the wound is not killing him"

"What? But that cut should be fatal!" Aoba exclaimed, looking at the kid with astonishment.

Asuma hummed in thought before standing up "Bandage that Kurenai, we will take him with us for medical attention"

The red eyed kunoichi nodded and took care of the wound, with Asuma's help they got the kid on Aoba's back "Be careful Aoba, slow movements"

"Don't worry Kurenai, I won't let anything else harm the kid on my watch!" Aoba said and started a careful pace back to the Konoha leaving his two pleasantly surprised teammates behind.

"He matured?" Kurenai asked herself, she shook her head and followed Aoba, leaving Asuma to take care of the bandits. The son of the Sandaime sighed and looked back at the mess "That kid is special all right" he mumbled to himself, without doing much the young boy managed to change the three of them, and for the best. It seems Aoba really was ready to be a Jounin.

"Oh well, time to clean up"

* * *

**Hope I didn't miss any question from the reviews. Thanks again everyone for the support and I hope you liked the chapter.**


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